Student Democracy Advocate Visits US

Mr. Hing Soksan was interviewed in VOA studio during the trip to USA

Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
27 September 2007
Please click here to listen Nuch Sarita reports in Khmer

Hing Soksan, an officer of the Students' Movement for Democracy, began a two-week visit to Washington last week, where he met US government leaders and attended leadership development training.

Hing Soksan was sponsored on his trip by the International Republican Institute, a US-based group that promotes democracy abroad.

He met with Anthony O'Donnell, a Maryland state legislator, as well as members of pro-democracy groups and State Department officials.

American youths are strong and independent and willing to take the government and their president to task, Hing Soksan said. This is different from the youth in Cambodia, who depend on the government, he said.

"Young adults in the US like to develop their independence, confidence and responsibilities," he said. "They have the courage to speak out on their views and directly identify problems. Young American adults especially have creative ideas where they continue to improve and refine on them. They make themselves valuable."

US youths are more able to attract political attention on issues, he said, whereas Cambodians seek out politicians for favors.

The Khmer Rouge tribunal was necessary in Cambodia, he said, where the youth remain under-educated over the regime and its policies.

TWO WEEKS TRIP TO USA

The YLC Champion’s reward is two weeks trip to USA. After gaining YLC Winner Agreement and Invitation Letter and on behalf of the YLC winner, Mr. Soksan Hing participated in the Leadership Development Training and Short Internship from Sep 16-30, 2007 conducted by IRI in Washington D.C where he saw some people who are the representatives from both governmental and civil society unit. Please click here to listen to VOA interview.

The objective of the training includes: learning how international non-government organizations and non-profit organizations work, understanding the American political process, how national and state level legislation is created and observing free and independent press covering of political events and other benefits and stipend.

After coming back to Cambodia, Mr. Soksan was invited to US embassy to present his activities in the USA. Here are narrative report and power point presentation.

Actually, the occasion was precious one because the program allowed Mr. Soksan to cultivate his leadership skills and gained experience in areas that were specifically catered to his particular professional and educational interests especially he met and conferred with U.S professional counterparts and visited some significant organizations. View my thank you letter.